[Archived] Poll - Falling Attendances.

[trueblue]

Why don't the club provide buses from the outlying towns like Chorley ?

[Tris]

Why don't the club provide buses from the outlying towns like Chorley ?

why stop there ? why not send limos round or order cabs ?

[JAL]

Great to see the why arent we getting more into the ground debate and the multitude of exuses that follow from its too dear, to we are crap, to the why dont we see more Asians on Ewood.

At the end of the day its .......who deep down.........supports Blackburn Rovers in the sporting world of football with their presence and commitment it doesnt have to be 100% though ( the blue half ) and who comes when everything looks rosey (the white half).

My proposal is that we the fans that do support the club through thick and thin become a bit of a closed shop ......, except for the overseas supporters, though a financial commitment is neccessary from these people to remain within our own Rovers lodge.

Within this closed shop has to be born rules of conduct, of image, and more importantly attitude and comitmment. That is what you or collectively WE... dictate or fashion the concept of what construes membership to an exclusive club that takes in all backgrounds and all religions.

I say sod the doubters, the knockers, and embrace the positives! JAL.

[S15]

Why don't the club provide buses from the outlying towns like Chorley ?

why stop there ? why not send limos round or order cabs ?

[bob fleming]

Is that a sneak preview of next years Season Ticket Renewal pack JAL?

Tris - if they were to "send Limos round with kebabs" I'd actually consider moving to Chorley.

[S15]

Is that a sneak preview of next years Season Ticket Renewal pack JAL?

Tris - if they were to "send Limos round with kebabs" I'd actually consider moving to Chorley.

Or kebabs with limos....

Hmmmmmm.

[Kiwiwannabe]

Why don't the club provide buses from the outlying towns like Chorley ?

The club are aware of issues like this and are continually trying to address them. I believe they have consulted with the police on several occassions regarding bus services to Ewood and the biggest problem is with arranging somewhere suitable for the buses to drop people off, park during the match, then collect people afterwards. I know in the past buses have stopped on Bolton Road (close to the Ewood Arms), but obvioulsy the space there is limited.

Paul is correct that the club have tried and will continue to try a variety of marketing ideas. The ideas have been very wide ranging and innovative, but have continually met with a frustrating lack of response.

[Jordan]

Why don't the club provide buses from the outlying towns like Chorley ?

Do you reckon it would come via Harrogate?

[Uddersfelt Blue]

Via huddersfield!!!!

This debate is pointless because we all know that the only thing that will bring the crowds in, is success on the pitch.

Then even those who say they can't fork out will somehow manage to raid their piggy banks once a fortnight.

[tashor]

Paul is correct that the club have tried and will continue to try a variety of marketing ideas.  The ideas have been very wide ranging and innovative, but have continually met with a frustrating lack of response.

That's 'cos they're targetting the wrong group.

There are hundreds of car driving Lancashire folk desperate to follow a Premiership side.

Provide them with easy access and tickets to see the likes of manure and le pool and they will dip their delicate toes in the Ewood water. If you don't believe me then check-out notlob.

Truth is, many of our fans want a glorious decline from grace.....

Fleurklin' sad or what

[tashor]

While I'm at it I would like to point out that this messageboard is part of the problem, not part of the solution.

Many, many posters here were completely obsessed in previous posts with stopping the likes of manure fans infiltrating home areas!!!!!!!!

Bloody fleurkerligerously brilliant!!

I have suggested in the past that ANYONE who bought tickets should be encouraged - as long as they accepted that demonstrably obvious away fans would be expelled.

I have met several of our season ticket holders who initially attended Ewood to see their armchair supported team

But we actually managed to have over 3,000 empty seats in the home areas against the scum.....

Whoopy-fleurkin' do....

That is why I am so negative now...

I am starting to believe that a majority of Rovers fans are not prepared to accommodate changes that are essential to our Premiership survival

[SouthAussieRover]

We've also got to assume that not everyone likes football (hard to imagine I know)

The obvious positive is that the loyal base appears to have increased'

However,as has been stated before, a sizeable minority come along for entertainment of which there has been little recently.

[JonnyH]

Television saturation: there is so much wall-to-wall footy on TV now that, quite frankly, it is becoming a turn-off. People are bored. ManU v Liverpool, traditionally one of the biggest fixtures of the season, was on TV last night and I couldn't be bothered to watch it. Television will eventually kill football in my opinion.

Damn. Can't find anything to argue with!

[Alan75]

Taken from a University of Leicester Football Research Paper.

Home grounds and Crowd Atmosphere

7.4 Back in 1996, 38% of all supporters surveyed felt that the atmosphere at games was 'as lively and as enjoyable as ever'. In 2000 that figure was down to 30%. Recently promoted clubs tended to do best here, such as Watford and Sunderland. Generally fans at the larger 'big city' clubs in the North and the Midlands, are more unhappy, but there is no clear-cut pattern. Only 7% of this Manchester United sample thought the atmosphere at Old Trafford was 'as lively as ever'. Few fans thought going to football was now 'deadly dull'

Full text if anyone wants to read it CLICK HERE

[Paul]

Tris - if they were to "send Limos round with kebabs" I'd actually consider moving to Chorley.

I'm e-mailing JW right now asking him to abandon that idea.

[MCMC1875]

Why don't the club provide buses from the outlying towns like Chorley ?

The club are aware of issues like this and are continually trying to address them. I believe they have consulted with the police on several occassions regarding bus services to Ewood and the biggest problem is with arranging somewhere suitable for the buses to drop people off, park during the match, then collect people afterwards. I know in the past buses have stopped on Bolton Road (close to the Ewood Arms), but obvioulsy the space there is limited.

Paul is correct that the club have tried and will continue to try a variety of marketing ideas. The ideas have been very wide ranging and innovative, but have continually met with a frustrating lack of response.

Sorry! Bus park created on the Triangle last season. Well used by approx 15 - 20 Rovers services every game.

[Hughesy]

Rovers should put buses on for their supporters clubs in the south, north, ireland etc and get them coming on a regular basis

[Shaddy]

Just an observation, I am in Paris, and am planning on making a second attempt at getting to a match at Ewood, for the Aston Villa match... I can't book my ticket on-line. I could last season... I'm quite busy during the day, and I have to fit in time to make an international call to the ticket office to book a seat, so for me this is annoying.

I'd imagine this would have a neglible impact on crowd figures, but I find it strange that a booking option that existed before, is now no longer an option.

[Hughesy]

There is a section to book online however it says error at the moment as they are changing the section.

Surely if you emailed the ticket office they would help you

[Lee]

RE:booking online: the club is changing its supplier of that online service, I've not been given a relaunch date as yet.

RE Hughsey's Buses: Supporters Clubs are more than welcome to run buses. I know from first hand that the North Lancs Branch does. London Branch prefer to go on the train.

RE Kebabs & Limos: Sign me up!

[mattyboy6000]

i was a season ticket holder until the 94-95 season for about 8 years. speaking from experience, the main reason i gave up was because i was playing on saturday afternoons, but i don't play now, and i haven't come back.

last season i was offered free tickets for a few games, went to a couple, but it was awful. rovers seemed hopelessly lost, able to fashion a few openings but take none, and terribly disorganised at the back. i was offered free tickets for the game against fulham, but turned them down, after putting in 50 hours working weeks my saturday afternoons are valuable free time which i wasn't prepared to spend at ewood in such circumstances.

our home record was appauling, but hopefully that'll improve now, with even a moderate turnaround the attendances will improve, fingers crossed.

as an afterthought i'd identify a couple of other things:

1) cost. when i came it was £2 rising to £10-£15 when i couldn't pass as an under 16 any longer. with the inflated wages it is clear why it now costs £25 - £30, but the wages of the supporters have not increased at such a level

2) the taylor report. this changed the face of football, giving us spanking new stadia. with nowhere to stand, and this was one of the things i enjoyed most about being in the riverside / blackburn end. i always hated it in the nuttall street stand.

these two factors are partly responsible for what i would call the 'gentrification' of football. since hooliganism etc wasn't a problem at ewood, it's a shame that a club such as ourselves had to go along with these changes which were motivated by the need to clean up the support of the country.

pz

[dave birch]

quite simply MB6K, you're not a supporter then! Thick/thin/good/bad it's all about being a rovers supporter.

[mattyboy6000]

quite simply MB6K, you're not a supporter then! Thick/thin/good/bad it's all about being a rovers supporter.

that's absolute guff. keep your dogma to yourself!

[CAPT KAYOS]

German football faced the problem of declining attendances a few years ago but is now booming with record crowds at many grounds.

The reason? Ticket prices were slashed, sometimes by as much as 50 per cent, and lo and behold, the fans came flocking back in. Pretty simple really.

Exactly ! I always make a point of asking ex-regulars why they don't go any more - 9 times out of 10 the answer is the price of the ticket . Link the cost with the effort put in by many players and the result is that the average working bloke will stop going. Lower the price and people will be more willing to watch the overpaid prancers. When people get fed up of watching games in half empty stadiums maybe market forces will work in our favour again.

Agreed Blue Phil/Jim

There was a similar thread last season, where I expressed my views on this along to what you are saying here. However, it is not cost alone but I would say it is probably the main percentage contributary factor of it.

As I mentioned there is far too much money taken away from the game by easy gain (eg agents/under achieving players wages etc) and until such costs are brought into control the game will continue in to a downward spiral and will result in many a team going under/amateur status/feeder trainee clubs and possibly only a European league in operation in 'USA style 'entertainment (anybody else see Wenger's wishes at the weekend).

Football will reach a 'break point' whereby fans will not pay the price of a ticket over a certain value unless it's a one off eg semi/cup final- as much as love Football I have already reached it and my level is £30 (I even refuse to pay it for the England games and go for the cheapest if possible)

I find it very interesting that once, MU v Liverpool one of ( if not the biggest) matches in the Uk football calendar is scoffed at as being just another match on TV, and agree with Jim in that I feel TV is killing Football regardless of the amount of money it injects - as this just leads to more being dwindled away rather than being invested into the game.

And yes - I couldn't be bothered to watch it either

[mrsjansen]

Ican't get to games because I work Saturdays, if I get a Saturday off I go. I finish work at 8 at nights and only sometimes can I get down to watch the first half of a games.

Now I've been a Rovers fans for about 15 years. My brother has been one for at least 20, and my Dad for over 50 years, we don't go to game after game because we can't, work other commitments. etc etc. I will be at the Villa game because that co incides with my Sat off.

But the reason that Rovers don't attract many fans is because 1) of boards like this when people do go who don't go often they get accused of being a part time supporter and get critisced for watching certain games. It shouldn't matter how long people have supported the club, whether it be one week, or 100 years, everybody should be welcomed and accepted.

Secondle and as hard as it is for people on this board to accept. Blackburn Rovers aren't a trendy club anymore, yes in the Dalglish, Shearer days people came through the gates. Uncle Jack was piling money into the club and people wanted to watch Rovers play. In truth Blackburn will only have about 22,000= die hard fans, most can't get to all the games we play in.

Half of those fans do nothing but slag the club off anyway, no matter what amount of success we have had, and maybe I'm in the wrong thread here, but quite a lot of Rovers fans, do think we are bigger than what we are!!!!!!!!